Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, addresses the 132nd general conference of the National Guard Association of the United States in Austin, Texas, on Aug. 21, 2010. "Maybe for the first time in our 364 years, we're more operational than we've ever been for a sustained period," he said. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

AUSTIN, Texas — Civilian and military leaders said here on Saturday that the National Guard is America’s solution in a time of constrained budgets, increased missions and the necessity of developing greater partnership capacity.

“The National Guard has repeatedly proven itself to be ready and a very accessible force,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, told about 5,400 people attending the 132nd general conference of the National Guard Association of the United States here this week.

“We validated the Total Force concept by showing that the men and women in our formations are ready to answer the call to be mobilized, to deploy overseas, to return home and then to become prepared to do it all over again,” he said.

“We … are facing a potentially momentous year,” Dennis McCarthy, the assistant secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs said. “There are going to be some decisions made this year that will have significant impact on the way the young men and women, who are wearing the uniform right now and those who will follow them are going to serve over the next couple of decades.”

Leaders sketched a picture of an environment in which budgets will be tight, the operational tempo will remain high and the Defense Department is looking for ways to boost partnership capacity worldwide.

“We’ve got challenging times ahead,” McKinley said.

All agreed on three key points: The National Guard has reached a peak of excellence since a transformation that began, arguably, with Desert Storm/Desert Shield and certainly since the 9/11 attacks.

Although senior level discussions and a dozen studies are underway about the future of the Guard and Reserve, no one wants to see it return to the Cold War-era strategic reserve.

And the National Guard is a key part of America’s solution to changing times. “We are one of the most efficient, effective organizations in our nation today,” McKinley said.

Army Maj. Gen. David A. Sprynczynatyk, the adjutant general of the North Dakota National Guard, talks with National Guard troops assigned to Kosovo Forces 12 (KFOR 12), Multi-National Battle Group - East (MNBG-E), at Camp Bondsteel, near Urosevac in eastern Kosovo, on May 23, 2010, during a visit by National Guard and Defense Department leaders. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

PRISTINA, Kosovo – More than a decade into a National Guard mission to support Kosovo’s security and stability, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said he saw significant progress in the young nation during a late May visit here.

 “The mission has evolved over the years from a hot, kinetic fight to supporting … NATO forces … to a point where Kosovo can continue to be an independent country and can stand on its own two feet with good governance,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley said during his second visit here.

 “The reason I wanted to come back to Kosovo was to thank these forces – predominantly from North Dakota, but with 13 additional states – for this mission, because I think at times it does drop off the average American citizen’s radar screen,” McKinley said.

 Through the 1990s, this Delaware-sized new nation was wracked by Serbian repression of the Albanian majority and by an insurgency bent on independence. NATO intervention in 1999 ended the violence.

 U.S. troops, including the National Guard, have been part of a NATO and United Nations police force on the ground ever since. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008.

 “The National Guard is a tremendous instrument for smart power,” Missouri Sen. Christopher Bond said in March. Smart power is the application of a range of diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural tools to foreign-policy demands.

 Here in Kosovo, the National Guard assists in keeping the peace and helping a fledgling nation find its feet. This is one of numerous domestic and overseas missions simultaneously executed by Guardmembers who have seen a greatly increased operational tempo since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Guard’s transformation from a strategic reserve to an operational force.

Reporters surround Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, in Ramdan, Israel, on May 26, 2010. A National Guard delegation is visiting the country to strengthen a relationship with the Israeli Defense Force's Home Front Command and observe National Level Exercise Turning Point 4. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

TEL AVIV, Israel – Sirens wailed across Israel and residents took shelter today during a nationwide civil defense exercise carefully watched by a delegation of National Guard leaders.

The communication, collaboration and coordination National Level Exercise Turning Point 4 revealed between the Israeli Defense Force’s Home Front Command – roughly analogous to the National Guard – and local agencies set an example for the Guard, said Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

“While not exact – because our states and governors and adjutants general are really our commanders and they have a state affiliation, whereas the Home Front Command is a national member of the Israeli Defense Force – what I saw here was the integrated way in which the Home Front Command works with their local officials, down to the mayors of the cities,” McKinley said.

“We are doing the same missions,” said Israeli Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, the HFC commander. “We try to help and support the civilian population. Our main counterpart in the United States is the National Guard.”

Golan said the HFC – which also is a reserve force – respects the professionalism of the National Guard, which has many of the same capabilities as the HFC.

Geopolitical reality has forced a high level of readiness on the HFC. “This is a very dangerous neighborhood,” McKinley said. “They’re under constant threat of attack. Being ready next month or next week is not an option. You must be ready today for any eventuality.”

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – The National Guard is aggressively addressing a spike in Citizen-Soldier and –Airman suicides that reflects a trend throughout the military.

“We are alarmed by the suicide rates we’re seeing inside the Army National Guard,” Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Carpenter, the component’s acting director, told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense in March. “Almost half of the suicides we’re experiencing are from Soldiers who haven’t even deployed. There’s more to this than just the mobilization and deployment piece.”

Last year, 65 Army National Guard Soldiers killed themselves; 15 Air National Guard Airmen died by suicide.

The trend continues. The Army National Guard confirmed 34 suicides through April 26. The Air Guard confirmed six.

Of the 34 Army National Guard deaths so far this year, 20 had never deployed, Guard officials reported. Of the six Air National Guard suicides, four had not deployed.

The increases echo a spike throughout the armed forces.

“As I look at the numbers for each service, the rates have gone up per capita at about the same rate over the past four or five years for every service,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, said in January, according to American Forces Press Service. “This isn’t just a ground-force problem.”

As has happened in other medical specialties, such as trauma care, the military is making a leading contribution to suicidology.

“The subject of suicide is one of tremendous difficulty and challenge and understanding,” Mullen said. “Certainly, … with the rise in the numbers in all the services since these wars, [Defense Department officials have] started to really look at the causes and get to a point where we can prevent this and understand this.”

The Army and Air National Guard investigate every suicide.

“We do a detailed analysis on each one of these suicides because we want to know what happened in that individual’s life that caused them to think that suicide was the best option,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt III, director of the Air National Guard, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense in April.

“What we’ve found is that they’ve had some sort of significant event inside of their own life, either they lost their girlfriend, they lost their job,” Wyatt said.

The numbers of suicidal servicemembers who have not deployed and analysis of the apparent reasons behind suicides and suicide attempts led Army Col. Gregg Bliss, chief of the Army National Guard’s Soldier and Family Support Division, to conclude that while the National Guard’s expanding suicide prevention programs are important, instilling resiliency throughout the Guard is critical.

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, right, listens as Army Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, acting director of the Army National Guard, testifiies before a March 24, 2010, hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – With 2010 suicide numbers slightly above last year’s and coming off the worst January on record, the Army National Guard is emphasizing resilience, transition programs and the importance of asking for help.

“We are alarmed by the suicide rates we’re seeing inside the Army National Guard,” Army Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, the component’s acting director, told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense in March 24 testimony.

Suicide confounds easy explanation, and deployment might not be the whole answer.

“Almost half of the suicides we’re experiencing are from soldiers who haven’t even deployed,” Carpenter said. “There’s more to this than just the mobilization and deployment piece.”

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – The National Guard must remain community-based, maintain proficiency, modernize proportionally with the active component and communicate, collaborate and coordinate with other military and government agencies.

Those are some of Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley’s bottom-line messages in the 2011 National Guard Posture Statement released last week.

“The Guard must remain a community-based organization with a clear understanding of its dual role: to serve abroad in support of our national defense; and to serve the governors and people of the states, territories and the District of Columbia to which they belong,” the chief of the National Guard Bureau writes in the statement.

“The National Guard must remain an operational force, indeed a strategic force, and must be resourced as such, so we can assist the Army and Air Force as much as possible,” McKinley writes.

Late winter and early spring is a season of posture statements for the armed forces here in the nation’s capital, where the leaders of military institutions provide congressionally required written testimony outlining the state of their commands and their needs for Congress to consider as it reviews the president’s budget.

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond talks with Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, director of the Air National Guard, before a March 24, 2010, hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense at which Wyatt testified in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON — National Guard leaders were on Capitol Hill Wednesday with a message from Guardsmen: we want to remain an operational reserve.

“The National Guard has repeatedly proven itself to be a ready, accessible force,” Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Defense.

“We have validated the Total Force concept by showing that the men and women in our formations are ready to answer the call to be mobilized to deploy overseas, return home and then become prepared to do it again and again.”

The Total Force concept includes a seamless integration of the active force, the Guard and the Reserve.

“The Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen of your National Guard are adding value to America every day,” McKinley said. “Today’s men and women volunteer … fully expecting to be deployed.

“This shift in expectation is a central aspect of the National Guard’s shift to being a fully operational force and no longer merely a strategic reserve. Indeed, the Soldiers and Airmen of your National Guard now serve with that expectation and are proud of it. They want to remain central players in the nation’s defense and would indeed be resistant to any move to return to a role limited to strictly strategic reserve.”